


Step By Step

by thefirstwaltz



Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-09
Updated: 2014-09-02
Packaged: 2018-03-08 10:10:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3205418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefirstwaltz/pseuds/thefirstwaltz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yuki and Tohru are married and expecting. Everything should go perfectly, right? So long as they follow the steps... Yukiru, as always, and despite the ominous summary, contains fluff. Or as fluffiest as I can manage. Side Kyo x Uo, nothing major as to put people off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AssassinedAngel (ff.net)](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=AssassinedAngel+%28ff.net%29).



> A reader requested fluff, so fluff I shall give. I'm not as good at fluff as I am dark, so please forgive the rich cheesy coating if you taste one. Think of this as a collection of pregnancy (spoiler!) fluff stories rather than one big plot.

Yuki Sohma still couldn't believe his great fortune of waking up next to Tohru Honda every morning, even if it was while kneeling next to her in front of the toilet, holding her hair back while she threw up. Supposedly the morning sickness would go away in the later months, but he was beginning to have his doubts. Something this unpleasant couldn't simply  _vanish_. Unpleasant things took a long time to subside, especially when they were going to result in wonderful things. Then again, Tohru had always been good at making unpleasant things wonderful in a very short period of time.

On the seventeenth morning, after Tohru had sat back on her heels and smiled to let Yuki know that the nausea had passed, he said, "We need to make a list."

Tohru looked away from his worried face and pressed her hand to her still flat stomach. She did it every morning after she threw up. Yuki wasn't sure if she was making sure the morning sickness was truly gone or if she was trying to feel some sort of movement from inside of her that would reward her for his discomfort. It was too early for the baby to be moving enough for her to feel – all the books from the library had said so – but Tohru was always hoping. Her hand slipped off of her stomach and onto her knee. Yuki put his hand on top of hers. In a small voice, she said, "Already?"

"You're encouraging me to procrastinate?" He asked.

She reacted to his teasing the same way she always had since high school. Her face bloomed pink and her eyes widened as she tried to rectify what she thought was her mistake. "No!" She exclaimed, shifting so she was facing Yuki more than the toilet, "Not at all! I just meant that it's so early, and so much can go wrong –"

She clapped her mouth shut and literally swallowed back whatever she meant to say next. Yuki's smile faded, and he squeezed her hand under his on her knee. "That's why I want to make a list." He said.

**Step One: Picking A Doctor**

Tohru took the squalling kettle off of the burner and said, "Hatori-san, of course."

Yuki looked up from the barely-touched notepad and set his pencil down like he was arming a bomb. Kyo – who had not taken much time before giving a glowing Uotoni Arisa a set of very loud fraternal twins – had often followed his pregnant wife to Tohru and Yuki's house, where the couple would promptly resume their fight by each sequestering a host and filling them in on their respective sides of the argument. And since Arisa, with her swollen stomach and burning eyes, always snagged Tohru first, Kyo and Yuki were left to their own devices. Kyo spent much of the time describing what it was like to live with a pregnant woman. As far as Yuki knew, disagreeing with a pregnant woman  _was_  like arming a bomb.

He stood up and automatically fetched the mugs down from the top shelf before Tohru could hurt herself stretching for them. "You should think about an obstetrician." He said.

His wife blinked and accepted the two mugs from him, her face slowly forming into a stubborn expression. No one really understood just how hard-headed Tohru could be. She was as naturally sweet and even-tempered as she had been in high school, but after eight or so years of dealing with the Sohmas, she had developed a single-minded determination to make everyone happy. It was in that vein that she responded, "Wouldn't Hatori-san be offended? You've always trusted him before."

"I know." Yuki said and picked up the pencil again. What had he been expecting, some sort of tirade? This was Tohru, not Uo. He did trust Hatori, and there was no doubting that Hatori was an excellent physician. But still, as he watched his wife pour out their tea to steep, the DNA Yuki shared with Ayame itched. He could say it as the principle of the thing, but as much as it felt noble, it felt incredibly stupid. Hatori was a professional.

She brought the mugs to the table and sat down across from him, crossing her ankles underneath the table. As lucky as he felt waking up next to her, to have her sole attention in the morning felt just as wonderful. When they had lived in Shigure's house, she had always been a whirlwind in the morning. Between breakfast and homework and making sure Kyo didn't smash one of the more integral structural supports of the house, there was barely a moment for Yuki to greet Tohru good morning. There was a reason he never really learned how to tie his uniform's tie properly. Now he had the entire morning with her to sit and hold her hand, feel the wedding band on her finger, and remember that he had put it there. He said, "But I never entrusted him with my wife and child before."

It felt strange to say it:  _my wife and child_. They'd been married almost eight months; he'd even filed taxes jointly. But between his only friends being the ones he shared with Tohru and all of them having been present at the wedding, he had never really had to say it out loud before:  _my wife_. And now the  _my child_  part. He lifted his mug of tea to his lips.

Tohru frowned now, the stubbornness giving way to confusion. "I don't see what the difference is." She said, locking her eyes on his. "Hatori-san is our friend and our family. You trusted him with everyone else close to us, including you."

"This is different because…" Yuki coughed, his cheeks burning like the steam from his mug was curling around his face. A husband shouldn't blush at such a thing, especially when he had succeeded in impregnating his wife. He closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to see the reaction on her face and exhaled, "…because it means Hatori would be staring at your-… _you_  for hours on end, and I'd have to let him."

There was silence from Tohru's side of the table. Yuki opened his eyes, the tips of his ears now going pink. Somewhere, in the distance, the ex-rat was sure, Shigure was laughing hysterically. His wife's expression was frozen in shock, either from the realization that she had been proposing such a thing or that Yuki would think in such a perverse manner. Yuki added hastily, "Besides, if something were to go wrong, Hatori would be involved in it. The last thing the Sohmas need is more resentment between family members."

Tohru looked down at the table, her face withering from shock to sadness. He hated to say it, but with this, it was something they would have to face. It was so early on, and from all the other library books he had read once Tohru had gone to sleep, an early stage in pregnancy was a precarious position. All pregnancy was precarious. Winston Churchill's mother had given birth to her son prematurely after tripping backwards over a log. The man set down his mug of tea and reached for his wife's hand again. He said softly, "I love you more than anything. I want everything to be perfect. It's your choice whom we go to, but please, see an obstetrician."

She nodded in agreement, smiled a paper-thin smile, and reached across for the pencil. She clumsily made a check next to the first and only thing on Yuki's list on the notepad and cleared her throat. "Next?" She asked.

"Next," Yuki said, and then stood up from his chair to lean over the table and kiss her. It was always like the first time they had kissed. It didn't matter if it was bleak outside or dark – kissing Tohru filled him with the same buoyant warm that her smile did. She smiled that luminous smile when their lips parted. She chided, "Your tea will get cold."

He brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear and whispered, "I love you more than anything."


	2. Step Two: Staying Away from the No-Nos

He was hoping that maybe she wouldn't notice. But Tohru had cleaned houses and offices alike for too long not to notice that food in their apartment had simply started to go missing. It wasn't that Yuki didn't trust Tohru to only do what was best for the baby, but rather that he didn't trust himself. He wasn't a particularly scrupulous person, and Tohru still had a tendency to let her mind drift. If they fell back into their pre-baby pattern, there could be disastrous results. He felt a wrench in his gut as he took the jar of instant coffee to work to stash in his desk, but it had to be done.

It was because he wasn't particularly scrupulous that one day his wife sat down next to him on the couch and said, "That swordfish was expensive, Yuki."

Yuki resisted the urge to cringe. Just as the stupid cat had forewarned, Tohru's moods had gotten more severe. Not unpleasant, necessarily, just razor-edged. She could plummet from happiness to despair before she even finished her sentence. He had yet to try her new personality's anger. It seemed like he would be learning more about it now – intimately. He set aside his book and said, "Swordfish has high levels of mercury in it."

"I was going to cook it for Christmas dinner, when the Sohmas came over."

He looked at her blankly, feeling his mind shift gears. Which Sohmas? God, if it was Shigure and Ayame and Tohru made eggnog…Only their eggnog couldn't have alcohol in it now. The baby. His mind shifted up again and said, "I didn't throw it away. I gave it to Arisa-san for you. She asked me to thank you."

Tohru lifted her hands up in a helpless gesture and let them drop back into her lap. When they were teenagers, she would wait until she was alone before she allowed herself to cry. At first her emotion had offended Yuki. She cried because she pitied him and his cursed cousins. It was just another shallow reaction to his circumstances, as heartfelt as the confessions of love he received at school simply because he was good-looking. But then, as he came to love Tohru, Yuki admired and even envied her emotions. They both knew that she had lowered Yuki's barriers. It had taken until the moment that he pulled her to his chest and held her as she cried for joy, the pregnancy test crushed between them in her hand, that the ex-rat realized that he had lowered her barriers as well. She didn't hide from him when she cried anymore. But she did look away.

Now he reached to take her hand as her eyes watered. She slipped her hands off of her lap to avoid his. Yuki took her hand anyway and said softly, "I'm not very good at this yet."

Tohru hiccupped, her hand squeezing his involuntarily. She met her husband's eyes and said, "I don't understand why I can't cook for you anymore. You got rid of the coffee and the  _sake_  and most of the fish I had. I know there are things I'm not supposed to eat or drink, but you could have asked me before you started changing things."

He smiled weakly. "Like I said, I'm not very good at this yet."

She hiccupped again and moved closer to him on the couch, cushioning her head on his shoulder like she used to on the roof, her breath making his shoulder burn. "I know you're just trying to protect me," she said into his sleeve, "but I'm not going to forget that I'm pregnant."

"I know you're not. I'm worried that I might forget."

He sighed and leaned his head on top of hers, squeezing her hand now. "I see you have morning sickness every day, but it's so surreal. I keep thinking about the odds from the library books, about how phenomenal it is to conceive a child given how so many variables have to be aligned."

He swallowed and continued, "But other than the morning sickness, the library books, and the pregnancy test, I don't have any evidence. You can feel the baby inside you, but all I have to reassure me is watching you for signs. I'm going to be a father, but it isn't quite real yet. And I want it to happen."

Tohru had straightened out as he spoke, tilting her face so that she could see his countenance as he spoke. Almost wryly, she said, "You want everything to be perfect."

"It's the only thing I can do to help."

She shook her head and laid her head back on his shoulder. Now she squeezed his hand. "All you have to do is stay here with me. Doing things without telling me won't help because I won't know why you're doing them."

Yuki sighed again, deciding that contending with that point was a futile battle. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. He had always been perceived as fairly serene and unflappable. In fact, he had made it a goal in high school to appear unaffected by the minor ridicules and absurdities his classmates had inflicted upon him. But as tranquil as he could be when on his knees in good soil, he found that his patience was running thin. He groaned, "I wish nine months wasn't so long."

That made the brunette laugh, though it wasn't the full-throated laugh that Yuki swore could make flowers bloom. "I can't make it go any faster." She said, straightening out again, this time to kiss his cheek. He looked at her, searching for that luminous, life-giving smile. It didn't come. Instead, Tohru unfolded herself from his side, let go of his hand, and stood.

"What else is on the list of no-nos?"

"A lot. Everything."

Tohru laughed again and turned toward the kitchen. Her hair spun out behind her, reminding Yuki of the days when he would spend hours downstairs in the kitchen, watching her cook and move. Idly, as he got up to join his wife in the kitchen, he decided that he hoped their child had Tohru's hair. After growing up among the zodiac, where unusual hair colors and styles were par for the course, brown hair seemed almost exotic to him. As he sat down at the table with the brunette to write out yet another list to add to his growing collection – this time what not to eat or drink – he realized that there was almost nothing of himself that he wanted his child to have, other than the same depth of love for Tohru. She was so vibrant to him that it seemed almost unreasonable that his quirkier traits would come through in their child. He set aside his pencil and turned in his seat so he faced his wife. She had been reading things aloud from one of the library books to put on the list, but her voice petered away as he turned to her and kissed her cheek.

"I love you more than anything." He said.

She blushed and replied, "I know."


	3. Step Three: Getting Tested

After a while, Yuki had become convinced that there was nothing material that would make Tohru recoil. He had seen her embrace monsters and open her heart without hesitation. He had seen her iron will to make others happy. It was certainly more than the ex-rat could say he would do. Then again, rats were cowards. They would abandon ship before the sinking even began.

What he did not know was that Tohru  _despised_  needles. He had sat next to her in the obstetrician's waiting room with his hand on her knee, registering ever tremor that went through the brunette's body with a tightening in his jaw. At first Yuki had attributed it to nerves and nothing more; this stranger they were about to meet would become an intimate acquaintance like no other. Having convinced Tohru that using Hatori's services would be a bad idea, it was entirely Yuki's responsibility if the replacement candidate was somehow deeply inappropriate for the job of delivering their child into the world. An image of his older brother – soon to be an uncle, though Yuki somehow hoped he could hide this fact as long as possible – came into the ex-rat's mind, and he willed it away with a shake of his head.

It wasn't until the two of them had been led into an examination room, complete with the stirrups that Yuki had seen in the books from the library, that his wife clutched his arm in earnest and said, "Yuki, what was the name of that procedure?"

He put his hand on top of hers on his forearm. She was shivering. "Which one?" He asked.

"The one with the needle."

Yuki blinked and then let his head tilt back, looking up at the ceiling tiles as if the relevant pages from the books were taped there. They weren't. He hazarded, "It started with an A. Analgesic?"

Tohru shook her head and almost moaned, "It sounded like anonymous."

He pried one of her hands off of his arm to weave their fingers together. She turned her body toward his as if she could hide behind him. Yuki could see her shoulders shaking. He squeezed her hand and said softly, "Nothing bad is going to happen."

Tohru inhaled slowly and then replied, "That's what Mom said when we went to see Father in the hospital."

Yuki squeezed her hand again and leaned his head against hers.

The door to the examination room opened, and a woman entered with a smile on her face. Tohru immediately sat up straight and let go of Yuki. She had always been hesitant to show affection in front of strangers – it was so easy to offend someone, she said. Yuki was of the opinion that discretion was proper, but it was perfectly acceptable for a husband to hold his wife's hand in public. It was an innocent gesture. Children held hands.

The woman sat down on the rolling stool that had been waiting at the foot of the examining table and spun to face the couple. Her smile was genuine as she said, "I'm Dr. Ueno Aiko. This is your first child, isn't it?"

Tohru blushed and shifted in her set so that she was no longer angled toward her husband. She rested her hands in fists on her thighs as she bowed her head and answered, "Y-…Yes. I am Sohma Tohru and this is my husband, Sohma Yuki."

She gestured to Yuki, who stood and bowed at his name, managing to hesitate as his wife had before adding, "It's nice to meet you, Ueno-sensei."

The doctor waved her hand at the formality and motioned for the man to sit. The tilt of her smile indicated that she was perfectly accustomed to the awkwardness that came with expecting fathers. She looked down at the clipboard in her hands and lifted a few pages, reading their paperwork for a moment before saying, "Well, Sohma-san, it looks like you've already done what I would advise. You don't smoke, and neither does your husband. That's very good."

She continued in this vein, listing out some of the other no-nos and smiling approvingly at every confirmation that each had been avoided. Finally, after ten minutes or so of such conversation, the doctor asked, "Do the two of you have any questions for me?"

Tohru flushed again and raised her hand. The doctor laughed and said, "You don't need to raise your hand, Sohma-san." Which only made Tohru's flush spread from her face to the back of her neck. She lowered her hand and said timidly, "When do I need to have the procedure with the needle done?"

The doctor frowned in confusion. "Do you mean an amniocentesis?" She asked.

Both Yuki and Tohru's faces lit up as the doctor said the word they had been hunting. "Yes, the amniocentesis!" Tohru exclaimed, clapping her hands together in delight before the meaning of the word reached her, making her wilt in her chair.

She continued in a much softer voice, "I apologize for the inconvenience, but is there any other way to test me without using a needle?"

The doctor raised an eyebrow and asked, "Are you afraid of needles, Sohma-san?"

Tohru nodded, and Yuki wanted to smack his forehead. Of course she was afraid of needles. Everybody was afraid of needles. The only reason it had never occurred to the ex-rat that his wife would be nervous about a giant needle being inserted into her stomach was his childhood frailty and his subsequent overexposure to needles. It had always been the same pediatrician that administered his shots and performed tests when he was little, and then it had been Hatori. After gasping for air for so long, the sight of a needle was a welcome relief. It meant things were going to get better, that he was saved. Now he reached for Tohru's hand and it took it, looking from his wife's red face, paler than usual behind the flush, to the doctor. Ueno said slowly, "Well, I would perform an amniocentesis between 15 and 20 weeks, but I'm not sure testing is necessary for you, Sohma-san. Your family has no history of genetic defects."

Yuki swallowed, his eyes dropping back to Tohru. He cleared his throat and said, hating himself, "My family has a history of genetic defects."

The brunette met his gaze questioningly, and he tried to apologize to her with his eyes alone as he continued, "I was born with a poor respiratory system, and there is a history of…mental troubles in my family."

At that moment he would have given anything to not be a Sohma. The doctor consulted the paperwork again and replied, "If you're truly concerned, Sohma-san, I could perform the amniocentesis today. You're at 15 weeks. The test would also determine the sex of the fetus."

Her voice eased from professionalism to sympathy. "I've performed this procedure nearly every day I come to work, Tohru-kun. I know it's scary, but I promise it won't be as bad as you think."

The brunette had lowered her head again, looking down at her abdomen as if she had to consult the baby's opinion as well in the matter. In the past week her stomach had started to protrude, the bowl of her hip bones cradling the new shape. It was scary and a relief at the same time to Yuki. It meant he could tell that it was really happening, that he was really a father. It also meant that he would really feel it if something went wrong. Tohru's hand gripped tighter with his, and she raised her head. "We should do it." She said.

Ueno nodded and stood. "I'll be right back with the equipment." She said, "If you wouldn't mind changing into the dressing gown, Sohma-san." And closed the door behind her.

The couple sat next to each other in silence for a moment. Then, her voice barely above a whisper, Tohru said, "Yuki, I don't want to know what gender the baby will be."

The ex-rat nodded, willing to agree to anything to atone for his part in the reason for the amniocentesis. He had always protected Tohru, and now he was the reason behind the thing that was causing her pain and fear. He wanted to stroke her hair and rub her back like he did in the mornings next to her in the bathroom as she vomited. As it was, all he could do was hold her hand and lift her to her feet, coaxing her to change. Still quiet, the brunette rose and reluctantly let go of Yuki's hand so she could change. Ever considerate, the young man turned away from his wife and looked down at his shoes, listening to the sound of fabric whispering. He swallowed again and said, "I love you more than anything."

There was a pause, and then two pale arms wrapped around him as Tohru hugged him from behind, her cheek between his shoulder blades. "I love you too." She said, leaning on him.

He could feel the unfamiliar curve of her stomach pressing into his back. He smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One thing to explain about medicine in Japan. The Japanese are, in general, far less likely to go see a doctor than an American for minor illnesses and injuries. They're not suspicious of medicine, but doctors are expensive and most sickness can be taken care of with over-the-counter drugs and home/herbal remedies. They also do not necessarily have yearly physicals after graduating from high school. As a result, they are far less comfortable in a medical environment and only see a doctor when poor health is an immediate danger. Doctors are often referred to using the "-sensei" suffix to show appreciation for their skill. (Thank you for the correction, Takani-sensei's Nurse.)
> 
> I'm not an expert, but I had to do some research on international attitude toward preventative medicine when I was in high school, so I'm relying on my impressions from that research.


	4. Step Four: Preparing a List of Baby Names

"I always liked the name Arisa."

Tohru set the plate of  _onigiri_  on the kitchen table and resumed her seat slowly, like a leaf coming to rest on a still pond. It didn't matter that her kitchen was filled with the cacophony of toddlers babbling and screeching when their limited vocabulary failed to express their excitement. She had always remained reasonably poised in the midst of chaos. It was comfortable to have a rambunctious house. She giggled, scooped the little girl at her side that was screaming "Up, up!" into her arms, and replied to the girl's mother, "Uo-chan, don't you think you're a bit biased?"

Sohma Arisa shrugged and fetched one of the  _onigiri_  for her son, making him sit down in her lap before handing it to him to eat. "Damn straight. But I also think it's a nice name. I would've named Mami Arisa if Kyo and I hadn't made that compromise with the names."

Tohru glanced down and lifted Mami higher so that she could reach the plate of  _onigiri_  on her own. The little girl balanced on the lip of the chair, her legs against the curve of Tohru's stomach as she nearly bent double to lay hand on the white balls. "What compromise was that?" She asked.

"Well, we were already freaking out about naming one kid, and then the doctor told me I was having twins…" Uo laughed. "Kyo fell out of his chair when the doctor showed him the two hearts beating on the screen. The only time I've ever seen that man go into a dead faint. Yuki, if you eat that fast, you'll choke. Slow down."

At that the woman snatched the remaining piece of food from her son's hands, the boy flailing to recapture his treat. Mami, successful in her excursion for food, had leaned her small body back against Tohru's torso and was eating contentedly. Tohru rested her chin on the toddler's shoulder with a sigh. She said, "Is this how Kyo-kun's son ended up being named after my Yuki?"

The pleased puckish grin on Uo's face was unmistakable. She returned the  _onigiri_  to her son's waving hands and said, "We decided that he would name the girl and I would name the boy. No interference from the other parent in our decision. There I was, looking up all kinds of names and different spellings, taking notes like a madwoman; and there he was, watching sports, doing nothing. God, I was angry at him.

"And then, after I'd given birth and was lying there in the hospital bed like a dead fish, Kyo picks up his daughter from the crook of my arm, studies her face, and then says, 'Sohma Mami.' I thought he was kidding. He hadn't taken it seriously at all. Though it does suit her." Uo smiled at her daughter, whose hair was just as flaxen as her name would suggest. Despite her mother's wild personal style and brusque manner of speaking, Mami always seemed to be dressed in the most adorable, pinkest outfits that could be imagined. Today was a pair of pink overalls with ruffles at the straps and bottom cuffs and a pastel yellow shirt with white polka dots. Uo had told Tohru that Kyo was that one that picked out the clothing, but the brunette thought that Mami would have been dressed exactly the same no matter which parent chose the clothing.

Uo helped herself to one of the  _onigiri_ and said, "So I swapped twins with him and ensured that he was looking deep into his son's face when I named him Yuki. I think in a few months Kyo will have forgiven me, now that it's been nearly two years."

Tohru laughed. Kyo was probably fine with his son's name, though it did get a little complicated when the adult Yuki and the toddler Yuki were at the same place at the same time. The ex-cat liked blithely talking about beginning potty training with Yuki while his ex-rat counterpart sat across from him, eyebrows practically twitching with annoyance.

Tohru set Mami on her feet and rubbed a few stray grains of rice away from the girl's mouth with her sleeve. She didn't know if she wanted a girl or a boy – she just wanted to make Yuki a father. She rested her hand on her stomach and tilted her head, trying to imagine what their child would look like at Mami and Yuki's age. All she could picture clearly was her husband's true, delighted smile. She said, "But since I don't know the baby's gender, I don't know where to begin."

Uo waved her hand in mollification, her attention back on her children as they chased each other. She said, "You've got a few months left to make more definite decisions. For now, just write down names you like. And make sure Arisa is at the top of the list."

Tohru sighed. More lists.

By the time Uo had left with the twins and Tohru had dutifully started a baby name list with Arisa at the top, it was time to start preparing dinner. Well, perhaps it was a half hour too early to be doing the cooking, but Tohru was relieved to be away from that blank list. She washed the  _onigiri_  plate and was going about making hamburger with egg when Yuki came home from work, his face worn from the crowded commuter train. Still, there was no resisting the smile that replaced his tired frown when he found Tohru in the kitchen, humming a pop song and manning the frying pan expertly.

He carefully waited until she had noticed him at her side, his hip against the counter, before he kissed her hello. When they were first married, he had made the mistake of hugging her from behind while she was at the stove. The bruised, burned foot he got as a result of her dropping the pan in surprise was lesson enough. His reflexes had been slowing down thanks to his lack of use of martial arts. He'd have to go to Kyo's dojo and spar with the stupid cat to get that speed back. He went to the table and sat down, his smile persisting. He and Kyo could compare notes on their wives' moods. To think that, seven years ago, they couldn't even have a shallow conversation without finding a reason to fight. Well, they still fought, but the conversation was deeper and there was a lot more laughter.

Yuki's silver eyes landed on the piece of paper on the table and, wrenching his head as close to upside down as he could manage so he could read the sparse writing, he asked, "What's this, Tohru-kun?"

"What is what, Yuki-kun?" Tohru responded in kind, not looking up from the hissing of her cooking. It was always a bit harrowing to cook, now that the baby was well and truly getting in the way. But that was how it was supposed to be; the baby would be getting in the way for many years to come. She flipped the hamburger patties and, sliding them to the side of the pan, cracked open eggs to fry on the other side. She set the spoon down on the counter next to the stove and turned around to see what her husband was talking about. She flushed when she saw Yuki pick up the piece of paper and turn it toward him so he could read it.

"It-… It's a list of names for the baby."

Yuki cocked an eyebrow. "Arisa?"

"Uo-chan said I should…" Embarrassed, Tohru's explanation faded into a mumble as her hands rolled the hem of her apron. Yuki set the list back on the table and shrugged.

"We have five months to think about it." He said, his words slowing down as a chilling realization crept into his mind. His fingers slid back on the surface of the table to the edge, where they curled around the lip so that he could not make a fist. "Uo-san knows?" He asked.

Tohru blinked, nodded, and then spun on her heel to move the frying pan off of the burner and turn the burner off. She sat down at the table across from her husband. She wiped her hand on her apron before reaching out for Yuki's visible hand to hold. It had been a while since she had seen his features sink from genial to anxious so quickly. "Yuki-kun? What's the matter?" She prompted.

His fingers twitched against hers and then moved to mold their hands together. His voice was low as he said, "If Uo-san knows, then Kyo knows. If Kyo knows, then Kureno knows. If Kureno knows, then Hatori…and that means  _they_  know."

Not knowing what to say in response, Tohru lowered her gaze to her disappearing lap, silent. There was no way to comfort Yuki in this case, no way to make him feel better until he had been hurt. After a moment's hesitation, she offered in a perhaps overly bright tone: "They do love you, Yuki-kun. Maybe they'll respect your wishes and be more discrete."

The gray-haired man opened his mouth to reply, his incredulity evident. And then his phone began to buzz in the pants pocket of his suit, making the two of them jump. He could not keep his hand from shaking as he fetched his cellphone from his pocket to read the incoming caller's I.D. Tohru clenched his other hand, knowing from his reaction that it was the worst possible person to be calling them. The phone buzzed again in Yuki's palm as he stared at it, paralyzed. Tohru squeezed his hand again and said, "You should answer it."

"If it's a girl, we should name her Kyoko."

Tohru blinked as the phone buzzed again. "What?"

"The baby. After Kyoko-san, your mother."

Now she blushed. Her eyes instinctually went to the shrine by the front door where her mother's photograph stood on a gleaming polished wooden stand. "Mom." Was all she could bring herself to say.

Yuki lifted the phone halfway to his ear as it buzzed again. As seriously as if he were being sent to certain death – perhaps a public execution – he sought out the liquid brown of his wife's eyes and said almost defiantly, "I love you more than anything."

And then, grimacing, he accepted the call and lifted the phone to his ear. The grimace became a wince as two voices wailed from the phone's speakers: "Yun-Yun! Oh, my dear, darling, delightful baby brother, why have you waited so long to tell 'Gure and I? –

" Aya and I had bets going – is my Flower there? Is she sleeping well? –

"You're treating her like the princess she is, right, Yun-Yun? –

"Tohru-kun, can you hear me? Are you well? –

"Oh, why didn't you tell us sooner!"

Yuki let go of Tohru's hand to massage his forehead. Another thing to add to the list.


	5. Step Five: Telling the Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For all my research, Yuki and Ayame's parents have no first names. So I'm giving them some.

There was something about Sohma Ayako that made Tohru shiver. She was accustomed to the dysfunction of the Sohma family, and had understood the coldness of the particular branch she married into when she accepted Yuki's proposal. But after knowing the sweet and caring nature of both of Ayako's sons, it became harder to accept that their mother was neither sweet nor caring. Somehow her sons had inherited her beautiful, open-set eyes, but there was nothing of warmth in Ayako to shine through them as it did in Yuki. She looked at Tohru and Yuki with the gleaming, even gaze of a feudal lord.

Tohru sidled closer to her husband and sought his hand with hers. Yuki had already greeted his mother; now it was her turn. The brunette bowed from the waist and said, "Good afternoon, mother-in-law-san."

Yuki squeezed her hand, but before he could speak to continue the conversation, Ayame's voice came like silk from Tohru's other side: "Oh, there's no need to call her 'mother-in-law-san,' Tohru-kun. I'm certain she'd prefer to be called Sohma-san, wouldn't you, mother?"

Ayako's attention slid from her second son to her first, looking entirely unimpressed with the ex-snake's interjection. Ayame tilted his head to flip his braid over his shoulder in response. "Where's father, mother?" He asked jovially.

"He was detained at the office. I don't think he'll finish his affairs in time to come to the celebration." Ayako answered, gunmetal gray eyes locking now on Tohru and her rounded stomach. "It's fairly obvious what Yuki is announcing."

Tohru flushed. She suddenly felt illegitimate. Her husband squeezed her hand again, glancing at her red face in the corner of his eye. His mother was far from surprising him – she had made her sentiments about Tohru clear after they announced their engagement. She had come to the garden wedding, but only to see her second son defy her. She had intended Yuki to be Akito's companion and entertainment ever since he was a child. That Akito was found to be biologically female was like a sign from Heaven that Yuki was meant to continue in that mode for the rest of his life, as Akito's husband. Tohru infuriated Yuki's mother simply by existing. Ayako had come to watch her son defy her again.

Ayame again broke the silence, this time with a cluck of the tongue and a sigh. He stepped forward and offered the crook of his arm to his mother, who slipped her hand around his forearm like a boa constrictor encircling its prey. And, with a wink to Tohru, he escorted Ayako away from Yuki and Tohru Sohma. Yuki pinched the bridge of his nose as he had while listening to Shigure and Ayame prattle out of his cellphone's speakers. "I'm sorry." He said to Tohru, only loud enough that she could hear.

The brunette turned to look up at him, wrapping her arm around his. She smiled. "At least we don't have to tell her now." She said.

And so the evening went. There wasn't a need to announce the baby once everyone had arrived – Tohru and her pregnancy were there at the door to greet people as they came in. Even Tohru's paternal grandfather, led by his sour-faced daughter, made an appearance to pat Tohru's hand and congratulate Yuki. The former rat accepted the well wishes with his typical politic smile.

It wasn't that he disliked the people currently creating enough of a racket in his and Tohru's apartment to cause an avalanche. He was never one for receiving attention and praise, particularly when Tohru was the one performing so magnificently. Not to mention that the  _way_  some of his cousins congratulated him – Hatsuharu in particular, with a flat kind of innuendo – seemed to imply that they were more surprised that he had the moxie to have sex in the first place. Like all other thoughts related to how conception was brought about, it made Yuki's face hot. And, like all the times Hatsuharu had effortlessly goaded him into embarrassment, it made Yuki's fingers itch to curl into a fist and punch something.

Thanks to Hatsuharu's insistence on driving unguided to the party - as Rin was telling anyone who would listen – it was a good hour before everyone had arrived and Tohru could go about her usually frenetic motions as hostess. She busied herself the same way as she had done since her days in high school, despite multiple offers from her friends and family that they would serve themselves. She was happy with things just as they were, even the part where she inevitably dropped something as she juggled empty and full plates. Just as Yuki was hoping that the child would inherit everything of Tohru, she was hoping that the child would inherit everything of Yuki. Or, at the very least, be spared from her eternal clumsiness.

She sighed and finished sweeping the broken dish into the dust pan. Now that she was pushing her way toward the third trimester, she found that her balance had changed and made her even more maladroit. Not only that, but her knees had begun to creak if she spent too much time on the floor. Tohru saw Yuki's offered hand and took it, laughing at her own awkwardness as he helped her up.

She set the dust pan full of porcelain shards on the counter and took Yuki's other hand, looking into his face. If the baby had Ayako's – no, Yuki's – open set eyes and his gentle smile, she'd be especially pleased. She had always thought that her face was pretty in a common way that made her average, despite her husband's ardent protestations otherwise. She squeezed his hands and asked, "How are you?"

Yuki blinked and replied, "How are  _you_?"

They'd learned after their third dinner party that the kitchen was the only place the two of them could get enough momentary privacy to check up on each other. And before that, the kitchen had been where they had kissed for the first time, the steam coming off of the open rice cooker an excuse for their flushed cheeks if Shigure burst in, sensing romance. When looking at what apartment to rent, Yuki had focused on the kitchen rather than the view or the paint on the walls. The kitchen was Tohru's domain, and she had shared it with him out of love. And, until he could afford a house with a garden and a kitchen with flower wallpaper, he wanted to ensure that Tohru's domain was deserving of the woman he loved more than sunlight.

Now she ignored his question and fit her hand to his cheek. "You look tired." She said, worry dimming her eyes.

Yuki made a dismissive noise in the back of his throat and took her hand back in his. "I'll be fine." He answered, "I'm more concerned about you. It's okay to be tired. No one will think you any less of an impeccable hostess if you sat down and rested for a while."

The kiss he left on the back of her hand as punctuation softened Tohru's resolve, but she still said, "Even Sohma-san?"

Yuki's eyes went hard for a brief moment, the only sign of his mute outrage at his mother's audacity to openly hold his wife, the mother of his child, in contempt. His voice was as mollifying as ever when he replied: "Mother's opinion doesn't count."

Tohru bit her lip and lowered her eyes, looking at the curve of her stomach. "I wish I could make everyone happy."

He pulled her to him by their joined hands and held her close. "There are seventeen people in the other room whom you've made very happy. That's more than most people do. So what if my mother and your Aunt fell through the cracks? You've made me happy enough for ten men, which cancels them out, and then some."

Slowly, she returned the embrace, her tone confused as she said after a moment of arithmetic, "Yuki, that's nineteen people in the other room. We only invited seventeen, and then Aunt came… Did I forget someone?"

Yuki laughed softly and put enough space between them so she could see his smile. "Kyoko-san's picture is in the other room." He said. And, when Tohru gasped and hugged him close again, he murmured into her hair, "Happy enough for a hundred men. I love you more than anything."

Tohru inhaled to make a response, but she cut herself off in another gasp. "The baby kicked!" She exclaimed, simultaneously digging her fingers into Yuki's back and pulling away from him in excitement, "Yuki, did you feel that?"

She could tell from his expression that he had. They embraced again, as if to test if the baby knew to kick when he was close enough to experience it with her, and then separated, laughing, when it did.

Yuki took her hand again, and with his genuine, gentle smile, said, "Let's go show the others."


	6. Step Six: Preparing the Baby's Room

Yuki grabbed Fukui-san's pack of cigarettes as soon as he read the name of the incoming caller on his phone. Fukui - a man who was probably the same age as Yuki but looked like he had spent the entirety of that time awake and doing arithmetic - looked up from his paperwork and locked his gaze first on Yuki, then on his cigarettes in Yuki's hand. The first time the silver-haired man had done this, Fukui had practically challenged him to a duel. Now he just blinked and said, "If it's that hot cousin of yours, tell her I said 'hello.'"

Any sense of guilt at using Fukui's cigarettes as a chance to sneak out of the office for a few minutes drained from Yuki. "It is not my hot cousin." He said, and headed for the roof of the building, where smokers were allowed to indulge their bad habit. Once he had joined his co-workers exerting the right to pollute their lungs, Yuki tucked the pack of cigarettes into his right pocket and took his cellphone out of his left. He had felt wrong the first time he'd returned family phone calls under the guise of smoking, but between averting Ayame-nee-san coming for a tour of his 'dear Yun-Yun's office' and arbitrating an argument between Rin and Hatsuharu before they could strangle each other, the ex-rat eventually felt justified. Smokers dealt with their addiction; he dealt with his relations. All in all, it was about the same damage to one's health.

Now that Tohru was into her third trimester, Yuki found himself calling compulsively after lunch every day - and once more, if his phone vibrated to tell him a call from her had gone to voicemail. He wasn't sure if he'd ever stop calling her after lunch, even once the baby was born. It reminded him of high school, and eating together with her under the tree in the school's courtyard. Going to university without her had been torture, not to mention that all the food had seemed tasteless without knowing he would speak to her soon after. He'd always known he loved her, but he hadn't thought that they'd marry so soon until he had set aside his bland  _obento_  and walked from the campus to a jewelry store to look at rings.

Relief washed through him as soon as his wife picked up. "Hello!" Tohru sang, her voice muffled. She was probably washing her dishes from lunch with the phone tucked between cheek and shoulder. Yuki had kissed her on the exposed, smooth length of her neck from behind once, as she did the dishes and spoke to Kisa on the phone. Tohru had squealed (not unpleasantly, he thought) in surprise and the phone had slipped from her grip into the sink. Yuki smiled, his words shaped by it as he said, "Hello, you called me. Are you two okay?"

She sighed happily. She liked being reminded that there were three of them, now, not just two - he knew. "Yes, we're fine. I just forgot to tell you this morning before you left for work about something we should do once you get home."

Yuki colored, cleared his throat, and turned his back to the majority of the other people on the roof. She'd woken him up early with the baby's tumbling, and between one thing and another - and another shower for both of them after - they hadn't spoken very much about anything. There had been some things in some of the books from the library, but surely she wouldn't call him at work about it. About  _that_. Yuki tucked his chin against his chest and crossed his arms - the equivalent of leaning closer to someone else in a phone conversation - and said in an undertone, "I would love to, but could you wait until I come home to talk about it?"

"About the baby's room?"

He resisted the urge to smack his stupid male head against a wall. Of course.  _Focus_ ,  _you Damn Rat_. In his silence, Tohru continued, her voice dipping into worry, "Did I interrupt something important, Yuki-kun? We can talk about it later."

Yuki lifted his head and said hurriedly, "No, we can talk now for a little while. What did you want to say?"

"I saw a store in Nippori that has a toy I'd like to buy, and there's a Nishimatsuya nearby. I was hoping we could do some shopping after you're done with work? I'll meet you there at the train station."

"Yes, of course! But don't go to Nippori. Come here." His voice softened. "My office is on the same line, and we can go together the rest of the way."

There was silence on the other end of the phone other than the soft sound of her breathing for a moment, but he knew what it meant.

They held hands like teenagers on the train until Nippori Station, and she straightened his tie on the station platform before they found their way to the store. Yuki wasn't certain about shopping for the baby. They had decided to not know the baby's gender until it was born, although the amniocentesis had sexed the baby as part of the test. The terrible truth was that, while Tohru was content to not know, he wasn't. And he had craned his head and read the amniocentesis results as they lay open on Ueno-sensei's desk. He didn't know what was worse - that he had broken a promise to Tohru, or that he couldn't tell her what he knew.

The brunette told him to wait outside, that it would be a surprise. Yuki agreed, though he did peek in through the store windows to check on her after a few minutes. Now that he was older, there was definitely more joy in creating surprises rather than receiving them. Then again, he had never liked surprises very much. There were only four in his life that he had enjoyed after the fact - all them Tohru. She emerged from the store with a paper shopping tote that she insisted she would carry: "You're too smart, Yuki-kun. You'll guess what it is the moment you feel how much it weighs."

At Nishimatsuya, he watched her run her hands over the tiny baby clothes folded and spread out like a deck of cards. He remembered being a rat, small and ashamed and helpless, and how soft her hands were on him as she held him. If he hadn't been so embarrassed, sick, or alarmed when he was a rat, he might have fallen asleep under her touch. He could easily see how Tohru's hands would curve to warm the contours of a sleeping baby's back as it slept. She lifted a striped jumpsuit and shook it out of its folds carefully. Holding it up to him, she said, "I can't imagine Yuki-kun as a baby."

Yuki blinked. What he'd looked like as a baby had never occurred to him, though he imagined that if the baby took after him, they'd soon find out. Tohru continued, "You must have looked so beautiful, though. I wish there were pictures."

He coughed. He'd gone through all of his life being called beautiful, in one way or another, to the point that there was no denying it. Even so, it didn't feel right to be called beautiful when he was a boy. A man, even. The old high school indignation always crept up in him again, making him want to point out tersely that he was man enough to - well, he wasn't Kyo. He didn't need to spit like a cat every time someone said something that made him uncomfortable. Instead, Yuki took the jumpsuit from Tohru and flipped it to run his fingers down the back. "My mother said once that she always knew I was the rat because I was so quiet as a baby. Small and unobtrusive, and gray like common vermin, Akito-sama said. Though Kita said she envied me, after the Curse was broken. Like a doll. That's why she wanted to play with me."

She pulled at his hand, and he followed with the jumpsuit still in his other hand. She led him over to a corner of the store as far away from the clerk as possible and then stood on tip-toes to kiss him quickly. She squeezed his hand and whispered, "You're going to be wonderful, Yuki. We'll take hundreds of pictures."

The silver-haired man flushed and looked away briefly, hesitating. Then he said, "I saw the amniocentesis results. I know what gender the baby is."

He didn't look at Tohru again until she reached up to tilt his face in her direction. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and he wished they were at home so he could put it down and curl one long piece of it around his finger. Anything to distract from how badly he felt. Tohru giggled and kissed him again, light as the swish of the shorts skirts she used to wear in school. "It's okay. I looked too. I was so worried that I wouldn't buy the right things that I looked. It's a boy."

Yuki smiled and took the hand on his cheek into his, dropping their joined hands to swing between them. "I know."

At that point, the store clerk hunted them down to show the young couple Nishimatsuya's wide selection of cribs, rolling her eyes at the goofy smiles the couple had on their faces. First-time parents. Honestly.

Yuki had just enough time before they were set upon to say in an undertone: "I love you more than anything."

To which Tohru replied, almost in a reverent voice: "It's a  _boy_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, the neighborhood and stores mentioned in this chapter are real. Nishimatsuya is a chain clothing store that specialises in newborn clothes and other baby stuff. And there are several baby stores in Nippori, though the one I was thinking about is specifically called "bonbon." I do not have affiliation with bonbon or Nishimatsuya (which, for the sake of fairness, is at Ogiohashi Station).
> 
> Second of all, I know it's kind of a mental gap to think about Tohru and Yuki having sex, but let's be real - that's how the baby got there. After becoming pregnant, it's not uncommon for women to experienced a heightened sex drive at some point during the pregnancy (it varies from woman to woman, of course, and some women have a lowered sex drive, or fluctuate). Having sex during pregnancy should in no way harm the baby for several reasons that are actually rather not pleasant to describe. Suffice it to say that it's not dangerous for Yuki and Tohru to indulge themselves a little. Should you have any questions on the subject, the Baby Center and the Mayo Clinic both have some helpful articles online.


	7. Step Seven: Welcoming the Baby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, you can hit me. Over two years? I can’t believe I allowed myself to do that to y’all. Call it reluctance to finish the story. Or sheer ditz. Either way, here it is: the final chapter of Step By Step. Don’t worry; I won’t make the new parents suffer too badly. I will say this, though: childbirth is intense, and I have never experienced it. Therefore I want to take every step I can to not minimize its pain and its significance. A fuckton more notes at the end.
> 
> Thank you to my friend, the new father, for candidly sharing his experience. His son's birth was much scarier than this one, and it makes me all the more appreciative of his willingness to talk about it. May it be the only time he fears for his family, and may his child be happy and healthy.

The baby was late. Somehow, despite all of the books he had read, nothing had prepared Yuki for the possibility that their son would delay his own birth. It was a procrastinating habit that Yuki had hoped would not be passed from father to son. But there was nothing he could do about it, other than watch as Tohru’s stomach distended painfully past the bowl of her hips until even her eternal love and good will seemed to stretch too thin. Not that he had been the object of any lessening affection; if anything, Tohru seemed to reach for him more, to the point that he felt guilty getting off the bed and putting on his suit jacket the last possible moment he could in order to get to work on time. 

In response, Yuki had surreptitiously begun to research what it meant to be overdue. It was a guilty pleasure – if it could be called a pleasure at all – that he indulged in even as Tohru, moving in her fitful sleep, tried to match the curve of her cheek better to the valley between his legs on his lap. He looked down, neck aching and muscles heavy in the wrong places from trying not to disturb his wife’s head as he scrolled on his laptop. It was nothing in comparison to how her feet swelled, her back ached. He turned his attention back to the screen.

There was no dangerous reason that a baby would be born later than expected. The books said that 1 in 10 women in their first pregnancies carried their babies past term, but that was a cold number, and made Tohru feel like an anomaly when, above all, Yuki just wanted to give her – and him – the reassurance that everything would turn out normally, and for the better.

The brunette shifted again, a ponderous breath blooming in front of his knee signaling to Yuki that she was waking up. He snapped his laptop shut and pushed it away from him on the coffee table, settling back against the couch and stroking Tohru’s hair. “It stopped raining.” He said by way of welcome, a smile shaping the words like the sunlight coming in through the window.

Tohru twisted with a soft grunt, bringing her arm across Yuki’s knees. He took the plea of the stretching curve of her arm and back to run his hand alone the line of the muscles, pushing against discomfort. She hummed a grateful thanks and relaxed again, turning so she could see him. Her skin looked dewy from sleeping on his legs. She pushed up against his knees, stretching her back another direction, before sitting up to droop her head on the edge of Yuki’s shoulder. “What do you want to do for dinner?” She asked, voice tight and exhausted.

He’d been trying to keep her from cooking. Shigure would have called it a ‘noble sacrifice’ with a mocking smile on his lips, but Shigure had also been weaned off the comfort of Tohru’s cooking. And Shigure didn’t cringe at the sight of knives. Yuki checked himself before he shrugged in response – he didn’t want to jostle her – and answered, “I’m not hungry. I could go find some take-out.”

“Again?” She said, trying to muster a smile to make it into a joke. He knew she felt her lack of mobility. She’d always done things, from cleaning to repairing family dynamics, and now she was consigned to doing nothing. 

He put his palm on her forehead, feeling how warm she was. “While I’m gone, try to walk around.” He said, and shifted slowly so that Tohru had time to reallocate her weight to the couch proper.

The phone call came as he was receiving his change from the clerk at the convenience store, and Yuki scrambled to get outside before it went to voicemail. The rain had started up again, and he stared blankly at the weak gray of the sky as Tohru gasped, “I think it started.”

“Okay,” he said, and because it didn’t feel like enough, added, “okay.” The sky didn’t offer any further guidance. He didn’t run home; it was only seven blocks, and he needed the time to control his breathing. The rain made everything sticky and cold, and he had the distinct feeling that if he panicked and ran, he would have his first asthma attack in five years. Then he wouldn’t be of any help to Tohru, or his son. _His son_. They hadn’t picked a name from the list yet. 

Yuki didn’t notice until he was dripping onto the floor of the entrance to their apartment that he’d forgotten to unfurl the umbrella dangling from his right hand. He dropped it and the plastic bag from the convenience store into his puddle and said, “Tohru?”

There was a small sound from the couch, and he was not surprised to find his wife trying to wipe at a stain on the upholstery with a towel from the bathroom. She was crying. Tohru gasped his name and set down the towel, her face strangely empty of color when he knew that she would have flushed. “I’m not ready. Look at this place.” She said, and then her face twisted in a way Yuki had not seen before, and she held her breath as she rode a contraction. It was the opposite of the what the books said to do.  
He took the towel from her hands and left it on the floor, taking her hands and pulling her to her feet. “We’ll do it together.” He said. He knew he was lying, but he didn’t know what else to say.

The taxi ride was too long. It was rush hour, and Tohru had her cheek pressed against the window, the corner of her jaw sharp as she bit back pain. Yuki had offered her shoulder, but after a minute the brunette had lolled her head the other direction, hissing that his shirt was scratchy. That he was too warm. _Do something_. He carefully picked at her hair, pulling out the elastic piling it against the nape of her neck and separating it into thirds. Her scalp was undeniably hot, and the roots of her hair were damp. 

He tried to remember how Hanajima braided hair, if you were supposed to start with the piece to the left or the right of the center. It had been years since he paid attention to it, even though Hanajima still appeared at their door holding a bag of hair supplies and an expression that could unnerve granite. He inevitably had his eyes on Tohru’s face rather than her hair, letting her chatter fill the space until it finally filled him, too.

By the time the taxi pulled up to the hospital, a shoddy braid dangled from above Tohru’s ear to her chest. She smiled, then, as he paid the driver and hovered by her door, holding out his hands to her. “I didn’t know you could do that.” She said into his ear, leaning on him as a nurse approached with a wheelchair. Her voice was hollow.  
Her fingers dug into Yuki’s arm, and he replied, “I didn’t know either. But it was time.”

It was not a private room, and the other woman in labor made such noise that Yuki was afraid to answer his phone. He had emailed Hatori in the car, and that had resulted in a long response with medical terms Yuki recognized from the books. Only whenever he started to remember what any one of them meant, Tohru swallowed a whine and he forgot again. Then came the text from Shigure, surprisingly to the point: “want video.” Yuki deleted it.

Then came the sixteen texts from Ayame, and the seven phone calls Yuki let ring through. He didn’t even read them. Now his phone was tucked in his coat pocket, folded over the back of the chair, and he was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, feeling desperately like there should be something he could do. On the bed, Tohru lay on her back with her legs bent, breathing. Then she sat up, heaved onto her side, facing away. Then she got up and walked in small circles, and asked for Yuki to say he loved her despite the woman on the other side of the curtain. He said it, and again. And again.

Time passed, and the breathing became groans. Her hand flexed into his, the joints tight and creaking like a strained fishing rod. And briefly, thoughtlessly, Yuki was glad to be accustomed to suffering the pain of others, if only so that when the violence happening in Tohru’s body traveled to his through their hands, he forgot what it felt like almost immediately.

The groans were screams. Ueno-senpai had appeared, hair straying from her cap onto the crease between her eyes as she settled between Tohru’s feet. For all the tension on her face, the doctor’s voice was light and firm: “You’re at ten centimeters, Sohma-san. It’s time to have a baby.”

Tohru nodded, a keening noise wrenching from her throat. Yuki reached out with his free hand to rearrange her braid, but Tohru’s head slid away from him as her heels dug, she breathed, and then screamed. Being able to take the waves of pain from her hand wasn’t enough. He couldn’t stop it. He would have to watch her suffer.

Bit by bit, breath by breath, Ueno-senpai leaned forward on her stool, her shoulders coming together and her hands cupped. And then suddenly, eternally, Ueno dipped out of sight and above Tohru’s voice was another cry, and Yuki had nearly forgotten what it meant. Tohru’s hand went slack against his, and she rasped, “Baby.” As if to remind him.  
Yuki stood up – or he was standing – and he craned his neck to see. He could hear the rattle of his pulse in the pitch of the baby crying. The baby. Their son. Ueno had a baby in her arms, and she was straightening out to lay him on Tohru’s stomach. She glanced up at Yuki and said, “Hold on, dad.”

Then she was clamping the umbilical cord – he was barely watching her, too busy trying to understand that this was his child – and holding out a pair of surgical scissors to him. He shook his head. He couldn’t let go of Tohru’s hand. The brunette sobbed once, terribly, and said, “Masayo…”

Her left hand, trembling, brushed against the crown of the baby’s head. Her eyes squeezed shut. Sweat and tears were in her eyes, and as a cloth displaced her hand to wipe at the baby’s face, Tohru exhaled a laugh: “Sohma Masayo- _obbochama_.”

From as far away as the moon, Ueno-sensei said, “Say hello. In a minute I will need him for an evaluation. I’ll be right back.”

Because of the books, Yuki knew that newborn children were not the same as the quelled, swaddled babies that were so often featured in glossy pictures. His son was red and wrinkled, and his hair seemed invisible. But Yuki knew it was there, as he carefully followed the path of his wife’s fingertips. It would all fall out, and be replaced. But it was hard to see, so perhaps their son had fair hair. Their son’s features were lost in an uncomfortable scowling expression, and though he was no longer bawling, he continued to let out a low wail. Yuki did not hold it against him.

Tohru’s head rolled to rest in the crook of Yuki’s arm. Her hair was soaked and her eyes drooped, but she was smiling as she looked down at the baby. “There,” she said, as if to prove a point.

Ueno-sensei reappeared. “Evaluation time.” She said, and then Yuki lost track of time again, stuck in the eternal sound of their son’s first cry and the humid weight of Tohru’s head against his arm. Around him, everything happened.

He didn’t notice until a half hour later that the three of them were alone. The other woman was asleep, and her loved ones had moved to the waiting area to talk. Their son – _Masayo_ , he thought – was finally settled and asleep for now, snuggled into his blanket and hat. Tohru was singing quietly, her mouth nearly buried in Masayo’s fluffed hair. 

His phone buzzed against the back of the chair, but Yuki ignored it. Just for a few more hours, it would be the three of them. His wife, his son, and the inexplicable pride that in spite of his mother, in spite of his brother, in spite of his cousins…In spite of his family that had invaded every minute crevice of his life, this now was his own. He refused to share with them what this felt like. What this amount of love felt like.

Yuki bent his head to Tohru’s, and kissed her forehead. Her soft song swelled, expanding to his touch, and he whispered for the first of thousands of times: “I love you more than anything. The both of you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lord, does it feel good to type that last line. I’ve had it since I started the fic, three years and one month ago to the day. I don’t think I’ll be publishing much more (I have a tangled mess of nearly 5k words about Yuki and Tohru and sex, because these two awkward adorkables never have their sex written right). But please, tell me what you think! Shout at me about the damn wait! Let me know if something like 8k words about Yuki and Tohru and sex is even something you’re interested in! Tell me I got childbirth all wrong!  
> Oh, on that note. I did a ton a research about the immediate experience of childbirth that has likely permanently ruined my Google ad metrics. There are a lot of things I glossed over for the sake of expediency, such as the placenta and the patching up of poor mom that usually happens. I was hindered somewhat because I chose to focus on the experience of the partner rather than the person going through childbirth, but I hope I managed to strike the balance between reality and fantasy.  
> As for Tohru calling Masayo obbochama: the word is an honorific meaning ‘little lord’ or ‘young master.’ I couldn’t help but think in the moment where she holds her son for the first time, Tohru’s goofy formality would rear its head. Masayo is the son of Prince Charming, after all. The most important little boy in the world. Probably worthy of being called obbochama, even if it’s because Tohru’s high on adrenaline, other hormones, and pain. I don’t imagine it’s something Tohru would keep calling him.  
> Also, I didn’t spend much time worrying about what Masayo will look like. Brown eyes and brown hair are dominant traits, but Tohru’s mom was fairer, so she carries recessive traits as well. When I picture Yuki and Tohru’s child, I honestly just see Tohru’s smile and Yuki’s eyes. The rest, including gender and coloration, is unimportant.  
> It’s been a wild ride, y’all. Until next time.


End file.
